Going through the Red Mansions quickly means going against the system.

Lin Ruhai also knew a little about what Yuanyangbang said, but the method of collecting cash made his eyes light up.

The focus of the salt policy was that salt tax accounted for the majority of the court's revenue, about 60%.

The imperial court's funding for water conservancy projects, border defense, and disaster relief all came from here.

Especially the border guards need food supplies. The government transported the grain themselves, which was time-consuming and laborious, so they gave the job to the big salt merchants. Let them get salt coupons that can be bought and sold, and at the same time help transport food to the border defense.

Therefore, big salt merchants are usually also big grain merchants!

In the past when the country was strong, these people were honest. Even those who show up and are disobedient can be beaten with a stick to shock and frighten them.

But now...

Lin Ruhai smiled bitterly.

The emperor sent him to Yangzhou to take charge of the salt administration of the entire Huaiyang area. It is necessary to prevent this large amount of money from flowing back to the small court of Jinling.

The reason why he and Zhen Yingjia didn't deal with each other was because they were rivals before.

Zhen Yingjia was in charge of this money and also in charge of Jinling's government affairs.

He needs to spend money to do things, so he must allocate this part of the money.

Especially in recent years, natural disasters have occurred frequently. Zhen Yingjia couldn't see that the people were displaced, so he used the money to provide relief to the people.

This is a good thing in the eyes of the people. But in the eyes of the royal family, he was rebellious and went beyond the emperor in doing things!

Why not ask the emperor and then transfer it from the capital? But Lin Ruhai also knew that when the money arrived in the capital, there wouldn't be much left.

Besides, going over and over again wastes time.

The most important thing is that the Emperor of the Zhen family trusts him, and he has been rewarded with the power to leapfrog management and act arbitrarily.

The Zhen family also has a general who can win battles. There are more places to spend money.

To put it bluntly, the power of the Zhen family was too much, and the emperor was not as comfortable as others.

The emperor didn't like him, so he wanted to mobilize his confidants to compete with him.

But Lin Ruhai knew that Jiangnan would be impossible without the Zhen family! Although Jiangnan's finances are in chaos now, money can still be squeezed out. If the Zhen family is taken away, it will be a mess, let alone money.

Therefore, Lin Ruhai has been protecting the Zhen family and wants the emperor to consider it carefully.

But after the assassination, Lin Ruhai also saw it. The emperor suspected that he had second thoughts, so he withdrew the defense that had been used to protect him.

"This approach has pros and cons."

Lin Ruhai sighed again and immediately thought of his shortcomings.

Cashiers can indeed prevent some corruption, after all, money is easier to calculate.

If you can transport money to border defense, it will definitely lead to skyrocketing prices in border areas. That place is already short of supplies. It's okay for a short time, but something will happen over time.

“But it’s good to be useful in the short term.”

He really didn't want the people to suffer any longer. As long as the people can take a breather, he will do it!

"Very good. As expected, he is a person that even the old lady likes. Today I have solved my problem and I want to reward you."

Lin Ruhai smiled happily and gave a very rare piece of satin brought from the Zhen family to the mandarin duck.

"The satins of the Zhen family are all tribute. These colors are very rare. I left some for Sister Yu'er. You can take this and make two sets of clothes to wear."

He had long wanted to thank Yuanyang, but he didn't know what to give. It happened that I was going to Zhen's house today. In order to connect with him, Zhen Yingjia asked someone to give him the treasures in the house.

Many patterns of satin are out of print, and now they are on sale.

"How nice it would be for the adults to leave it to the girl..."

Yuanyang was too embarrassed to accept it, so she had to give in to Lin Ruhai repeatedly.

But she also knew that her idea was nothing. Mr. Lin is a prodigy, so why can't he come up with good ideas? She is just doing whatever she wants.

It was Master Lin's respect that moved her.

The next few days were uneventful. The "special price salt" launched by Lin Ruhai and Zhen Yingjia didn't seem to cause any trouble.

There was no movement from the big salt dealers, and Gao Peng, who was hiding in the dark, did not appear. Jia Yucun asked the Yamen to post a few portraits of the pursuit with unclear faces, and suppressed the Jin family's complaint on the grounds that the whereabouts of the suspects were unknown. Bottom of the box.

However, the calmer it was outside, the more defensive Lin Ruhai and Yuanyang became.

Now news has come from the capital that the emperor will send an imperial minister to examine the corruption problem in Jiangnan officialdom.

When the imperial minister arrives, Lin Ruhai's burden will be lighter.

It's just that the calm before the storm is always difficult to endure. Not only the mandarin ducks and Lin Ruhai feel uncomfortable, but also the one-eyed dragon, who is under Gao Peng's close surveillance, is scratched all over.

"Master Gao, we already have five hundred people. It won't be a problem to attack a small village."

The one-eyed dragon boss reported to Gao Peng who was hiding behind the tree, trying to make Gao Peng look good.

"Really? Don't break up the family again halfway, you won't even be able to kill one person."

Gao Peng sneered and glanced at the one-eyed dragon. If he hadn't arrived in time, he would have successfully turned over the one-eyed dragon and kicked out all his confidants.

"how come?"

The one-eyed dragon smiled awkwardly, complaining in his heart that Gao Peng was not generous and was still thinking about him!

"Everyone has seen blood this time. If there is another coward, I will bring it up to see you!"

"Humph!"

Gao Peng laughed, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He reached out and patted the one-eyed dragon on the shoulder and said, "Okay, okay, don't make any mistakes again this time."

After comforting the one-eyed dragon and watching him enter the crowd, Gao Peng withdrew his cold gaze.

One-Eyed Dragon has some real abilities, at least in terms of commanding and managing his subordinates, he still has great potential.

In the small team of more than 30 people, except for the people assigned by Gao Peng, the rest only listened to Cyclops.

Gao Peng almost capsized because of this.

But now he can't be trusted, and Gao Peng has plenty of free time to train his subordinates. This popular one-eyed dragon is a bit of an eyesore.

"grown ups!"

Gao Peng's former subordinates still called him as before.

"Brothers on the water said that they had seen the imperial envoy's boat. They asked if it was burned cleanly or if the head was chopped off?"

Burning meant creating the illusion of an accidental death, but beheading was to shock a group of people with the imperial envoy's death.

"What did Jia Yucun say?" Gao Peng asked playfully. When the superiors come to investigate corruption, Jia Yucun must be more anxious than he is.

"Master Jia means to keep it small and don't make too much noise."

"Haha! What a fool! The imperial envoy is about to be killed, where can I keep it?"

Gao Peng sneered. Anyway, since he can no longer be an official, Jiangnan officialdom has nothing to do with him.

It has nothing to do with him whether the officialdom is in turmoil or not.

The person who came here is still working as a gatekeeper! Jia Yucun treats his subordinates well and always leads them to make a fortune together. This man still wanted to get promoted and make a fortune, so he liked Jia Yucun more.

Seeing that Gao Peng has gone crazy, he wonders:

"Master Jia said that he can handle the trouble if it is small. If the trouble becomes serious, the superiors will send troops to suppress the bandits, which will not be under his control."

"Humph!"

Gao Peng snorted coldly, thinking about whether to follow Jia Yucun's wishes and take a long-term view or do something else.

After serving as an official for nearly ten years, Gao Peng had long seen the emptiness of the imperial court. But a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. The dynasty has only been over a hundred years, so now it is said that its strength has been exhausted, which is a bit too big.

"Let's start a fire! But let's be honest, the imperial envoy is dead! Don't be like a golden mandarin duck, burning an empty ship and then making a quarrel. One more time, I will kill someone!"

Gao Peng gritted his teeth and stared, so frightened that the visitor trembled, and responded tremblingly.

"Yes! Children, please pay attention, adults, please take a look!"